Before working on your teeth (other than during a routine hygiene visit) your dentist is likely going to numb the area they intend working on to avoid pain. This enables the dentist to effectively correct any abnormalities developing in your teeth without causing you any pain. In general, dentists use anesthesia and sedatives such as Lidocaine to make everyday dental work more bearable and pain-free.
What Does an Anesthetic Contain?
The most common anesthetic in use today is a sedative called Lidocaine. This is the modern replacement for procaine and Novocain which both tended to hang around the body longer than required. But there are several other varieties when it comes to anesthetics too, and your dentist will decide, and explain to you, why they need to use a particular drug to numb the area they will be working on.
What Exactly Does the Anesthetic Do?
Once administered, anesthesia will quickly begin sedating nerves in the tooth and surrounding gum area to be worked on. Once it settles in, they can now set about their task of working carefully and quickly to remedy the problem area in your mouth. People also tend to worry that the anesthesia will wear-off. In general, this doesn’t happen until way after the dental treatment has been performed.
In the past, it was natural to dread a visit to the dentist due to the use of laughing gas. Nowadays, things are a little more civilized. Medical science has developed all kinds of different techniques to fix dental problems, and your teeth will be the better for these. Dental specialists undergo a long period of training before working independently on the general public, and this includes sedating patients before performing surgery. If you are not sure what is happening, ask, and, should you still be uncomfortable about what is on the menu, ask if there are any other alternatives available.
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